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Front Burner

By Florence Fabricant March 12, 2013 6:02 pmMarch 12, 2013 6:02 pm

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Credit Agaton Strom for The New York Times

To Shop: Five Generations, One New Shop

Lobel’s, the quintessential carriage-trade butcher on the Upper East Side, is opening a shiny, spacious new market, Lobel’s Kitchen. Aside from Lobel’s steak sandwich outlet at Yankee Stadium, this is the first expansion for the business, which is now in its fifth generation of family ownership. Prepared food, overseen by the chef Rolf Baumann, above left with David Lobel, is the main point here. It includes brisket, short ribs, rotisserie chicken and ducks and even suckling pig and barbecue, all to take away or to eat at tables. Sandwiches are also on the menu. Lobel’s fresh meats will be available, too, along with cheese and smoked fish: Opens Monday, 1030 Third Avenue (61st Street), (212) 317-0200, lobelskitchen.com.

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Credit Robert Caplin for The New York Times

To Taste: Gemelli, Busiate, Reginette and Friends

Pasta-making comes naturally to Melissa Muller Daka, above, who credits her family of Sicilian home cooks. Though her expertise is on display at Eolo, her two-year-old restaurant in Chelsea, it’s at Pastai, her compact new restaurant nearby, that the pasta takes over. Pastai, which is due to open on Monday, is a pasta factory for both restaurants, and it has a retail counter. There are at least 10 types of fresh pasta available at any time, including a rich whole-wheat gemelli, curly strands of spinach reginette, busiate made by twisting dough on knitting needles and pasta grattata (similar to spaetzle). She is meticulous about keeping the production of her gluten-free varieties, like butternut squash ravioli, separate from wheat. You can watch the pasta being made at the counter, which is decorated with her collection of vintage rolling pins: 186 Ninth Avenue (21st Street), (646) 688-3463, pastainyc.com. Fresh pasta is about $3.50 for three ounces. Pasta sauces are also available to go.

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Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

To Serve: When Fudgy Met Salty

Don’t tell a soul and you might bask in plaudits for these big home-style cookies, crisp-edged yet soft and not underbaked. Your ploy may not work with the brownies, though, especially the one called OMGCB, with its layer of caramel. The basic brownie is an excellent choice for lovers of anything fudgy. The bakery, called Salt of the Earth for the dusting of sea salt on the confections, was created by Alexandra Rabbani, who turned to baking instead of job-hunting after the recession, and her husband, Haskel, a lawyer who joined her in the business. Available at Fairway markets and saltoftheearthbakery.com. Cookies are $4 for two; brownies are $5 to $6 each.

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Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

To Wield: Putting Vegetables in Their Place

It may seem like nothing could improve an oldfangled eight-inch chef’s knife. But Wüsthof has found a way. Its new, well-balanced Gourmet Chef’s vegetable knife has a row of holes near the edge of the blade and, on one side, a thin ridge above them. These features are designed to reduce friction as you attack that cucumber or onion, so the slices fall off onto the cutting board instead of piling up as they stick to the knife. But it’s strictly a right-handed utensil, and Norman Kornbleuth, an owner of Broadway Panhandler, which is introducing the knife, said that Wüsthof has no plans for a left-handed version: $89.95 at Broadway Panhandler, 65 East Eighth Street (Broadway), (212) 966-3434, broadwaypanhandler. com.

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Credit Patricia Wall/The New York Times

To Read: So a Dublin Lawyer Walks Into a Kitchen …

Your cookbook shelf does not need both “Rachel’s Irish Family Food” by Rachel Allen (HarperCollins, $29.99) and “Real Irish Food” by David Bowers (Skyhorse Publishing, $24.94). Either one would set you up nicely for St. Patrick’s Day and beyond, so choosing is a challenge. There is plenty of overlap between the two lavishly photographed books, with nearly identical and mostly quite simple recipes for fish pies, mashed potato dishes, soda breads, scones and the like. But each also offers distinct recipes to treasure. Mr. Bowers includes a lobster dish called Dublin Lawyer; mentioned by Thackeray back in 1847, it is flamed in whiskey and cream (so rich that only a lawyer could afford it, or so it’s said). Ms. Allen, who married into the famous Ballymaloe culinary dynasty, tempts with open pot roast of chicken and brown bread ice cream, which is an easy semifreddo. When it comes to roasting, Mr. Bowers overcooks his meats; at 170 degrees the lamb will have long kissed pink goodbye. On that score Ms. Allen suggests roasting to your liking, giving approximate timing, so you have only yourself to blame. I might just give the nod to Ms. Allen.

A version of this article appears in print on 03/13/2013, on page D3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Front Burner.